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Democrat Ethan Berkowitz conceded defeat in his challenge to Congressman Don Young on Tuesday. Trailing by more than 16,000 votes, Berkowitz called Young to congratulate him on his victory. But Berkowitz hinted strongly that he may run again in the future if Young doesn't do well in the Democrat-controlled Congress. "I've got to digest all the numbers and see what happened, but there is a whole host of reasons it happened," Berkowitz said. "I'm proud of the fact that we have, at this point, more votes than any other Democrat running in history except for Mark Begich. "I'm proud of...

After much speculation that his failed presidential bid would be his last campaign, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has decided to run for re-election to his Senate seat in 2010.

AK-Senate: Begich Widens Lead Democrat Mark Begich has nearly doubled his lead over Republican Sen. Ted Stevens with just 8,000 votes remaining to be counted in the Alaska Senate race, according to tabulations provided by the state's Division of Elections. With 16,000 of the 24,000 remaining ballots counted, according to the Anchorage Daily News, Begich now has 146,286 votes (47.56 percent) while Stevens has 143,912 votes (46.79 percent). Under Alaska law, a recount would be mandated only if the final margin is less than .5 percent ; Begich's lead is currently .77 percent. (Hat tip: Fellow numbers geek and Post...

Franken Asks State to Count Disqualified Ballots @ 2:44 pm by Hill Staff Democrat Al Franken’s (Minn.) campaign filed a campaign with Minnesota’s Board of Canvassers Monday asking the organization in charge of certifying election results to include some originally disqualified provisional and absentee ballots in the vote totals. “There are, of course, legitimate reasons to reject absentee ballots,” said Franken spokesman Andy Barr in a conference call with reporters. “But it is clear that there are some absentee ballots that have been rejected in error. Those votes should be counted.” The Franken campaign said they expected their campaign and...

Georgia supporters of the fair tax turned out en masse Sunday to cheer the idea of a national sales tax, which has become a thorny issue in the state’s high-profile Dec. 2 U.S. Senate runoff. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won Georgia’s GOP presidential primary in February, joined about 2,000 people Sunday afternoon at the Gwinnett Civic Center in what became not just fair-tax rally, but a major campaign stop for Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Moultrie. Chambliss backs the fair tax, which would abolish the Internal Revenue Service and replace the federal income tax and most...

Less than 600 votes separated Republican Tom McClintock and Democrat Charlie Brown in the ongoing provisional and vote-by-mail ballot count in the 4th Congressional District. McClintock led with 168,947 votes as of 4:22 p.m. Friday, to 168,378 for Brown. That gave McClintock a percentage of 50.1 percent to 49.9 percent for Brown. Thousands of ballots remained to be counted, though it was unclear which parts of the district they would come from.

Democrat Mark Begich now leads Sen. Ted Stevens (R) by just over 1,000 votes with more than 90 percent of the total ballots counted in the high-profile Alaska Senate race. The Alaska Division of Elections counted another 14,500 votes on Friday and Begich's lead increased from 841 before the day started to 1,022 when the counting ended.

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- With their Northern California House race still too close to call, Republican Tom McClintock and Democrat Charlie Brown will be heading to the nation's capital next week for orientation for new lawmakers. Both were invited by House leaders, as were contestants of both parties in another uncalled race in Ohio — along with some 50 new House members who won election outright. "We believe Tom will be elected to represent the 4th Congressional District, and it is important for him to attend orientation in order to best serve the people," said McClintock's spokesman, Bill George. Said Brown's...

Anyone doubting that every vote counts should have spent a few hours this week with election officials in Auburn. Or Placerville. Or Nevada City. There wasn't a hanging chad in sight. But both sides of the too-close-to-call race for the 4th Congressional District scrutinized virtually every uncounted ballot in the contest between Republican Tom McClintock and Democrat Charlie Brown. "It can be a mind-numbing process," said Brown volunteer Steve Barber of Granite Bay. Barber was among a handful of volunteers watching election workers in Auburn as they duplicated ballots that were damaged or cast in the wrong precinct. The duplication...

Young retains US House seat in Alaska By MARY PEMBERTON – 1 hour ago ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — After the toughest fight of his long political career, Alaska voters have returned Republican incumbent Don Young to the U.S. House for his 19th term. Young, 75, defied pre-election pundits by surviving a strong challenge from Democrat Ethan Berkowitz. Young was returned to office despite being under investigation and linked to an ongoing corruption scandal. The Associated Press declared Young the winner Wednesday, with Young getting 50 percent of the vote compared with Berkowitz's 45 percent.

The elections division still has over 10,000 ballots left to count today and thousands more through next week, but the latest numbers show Mark Begich leading Sen. Ted Stevens 125,019 to 125,016. The new numbers, reflecting nearly 43,000 absentee ballots counted today, are from all over the state. Election night, Ted Stevens led the Democratic Begich by about 3,000 votes. The state today is counting a total of about 60,000 absentee and questioned ballots. The Division of Elections said it expects to count roughly 35,000 additional absentee and questioned ballots over the next week.

Contradicting polling numbers released earlier this week by his Democratic opponent, physician John Fleming (R) put out a new survey that showed him ahead by 5 points in Louisiana’s open 4th district race. The survey showed Fleming led Caddo Parish District Attorney Paul Carmouche (D) 48 percent to 43 percent, with 8 percent undecided. The poll of 140 likely voters was conducted for Fleming’s campaign by Multi-Quest International and was taken Nov. 6-8. It had a 6-point margin of error. The election to decide who will succeed retiring Rep. Jim McCrery (R) will take place on Dec. 6 after the...

Brown still trailing McClintock in CA-04 vote count By Ben van der Meer, PolitickerCA.com Senior Reporter Tom McClintock's lead in the 4th Congressional District race grew to 1,192 votes over Democrat Charlie Brown Tuesday afternoon, though neither side claimed victory. With more than 40,000 ballots still to be counted in the district's largest three counties, McClintock had 159,738 votes to 158,646 for Brown, from Roseville. The percentage breakdown was 50.2 percent for McClintock to 49.8 percent for Brown. El Dorado, Nevada and Placer counties all still had thousands of uncounted votes as of Monday evening, as did Butte and Sacramento...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who dipped into his own deep pockets to help finance his presidential bid, has directed $5,000 from his “Free and Strong America” political action committee to aid the recount effort of Senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota. Mr. Coleman, the Republican incumbent, is locked in a tight race with his Democratic opponent Al Franken. Though the initial vote tally showed Mr. Coleman ahead by 725 votes, as counties double checked their figures over the last week that margin has thinned even more. As of Monday, just over 200 votes separated the two challengers. The vote totals...

The vote gap between Senate candidates Norm Coleman and Al Franken fluctuated throughout the day Thursday, with Franken closing to within 236 votes by Thursday evening.

It appears that Saxby Chambliss is going to have to have a runoff in Georgia for his Senate seat. Just heard John Kyl say that Obama is moving people and money into the state. Chambliss could be the difference in keeping the dems under 60 votes. If you can give $20-25 bucks to his campaign https://www.saxby.org/Contribute.aspx

State Sen. Bill Cassidy ousted U.S. Rep. Don Cazayoux on Tuesday night in the 6th U.S. Congressional District race. Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, had 150,226 votes to Cazayoux’s 125,716 votes according to complete but unofficial results from all 520 precincts. State Rep. Michael Jackson, No Party-Baton Rouge, trailed in third place with 36,133 votes. The winner only has to get the most votes, not a 50 percent-plus-one majority. In his concession speech, Cazayoux said, “I was lucky to serve at all.” He congratulated both Cassidy and Jackson. “It’s a conservative district, and I’m a conservative,” Cassidy said. The 6th District includes...

Well, Murtha got re-elected comfortably. The only thing that will save my day is if Prop 8 passes in California. That will be close. It's winning now, but not by much.

NEW YORK (AP) — Democrat Michael McMahon has won the congressional seat in Staten Island held by GOP Rep. Vito Fossella, who was forced out of office in scandal. The victory by the city councilman puts the entire New York City congressional delegation in Democratic hands for the first time in 35 years. With 60 percent of precincts reporting, McMahon was leading with 57 percent of the vote over Republican Robert Straniere in a district that also includes part of Brooklyn. The election caps a tumultous year in Staten Island politics, following the drunken-driving arrest of Fossella that led to...

Oregon return discussion thread.